Although HBO has made attempts to separate itself from that thing we call television ("it's not TV, it's HBO"), the premium cable network has brought us some of the greatest TV of all time throughout its history of original programming, which started in the early '80s — from "The Sopranos" to "Game of Thrones."

Since HBO's list of original programming is so good, we decided to rank its shows according to their ratings on Metacritic, which aggregates critics' reviews and assigns each season of a show a score. (For shows with multiple seasons, we averaged their scores.)

The list is competitive. But like any other television network, HBO has released some stinkers in its lifetime.

(Note: We left off animated, children's, documentary/reality, and foreign programming as well as miniseries, with a few notable exceptions.)

Here's how HBO's shows rank from worst to best, according to critics on Metacritic:

70. "Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003-), 15 seasons

"Why would HBO, cable's most innovative network ... think it's a good idea to let Bill Maher bring the skeleton of his canceled ABC show, 'Politically Incorrect,' and stuff it into the tattered corpse of 'Dennis Miller Live'?" —Entertainment Weekly

68. "John from Cincinnati" (2007), one season

"Watching HBO's surfing drama 'John From Cincinnati' is like sitting through a bad play at a tiny experimental theater.... In short, if Gary Busey were a TV series, he would be 'John From Cincinnati.'" —The Boston Globe

62. "Hello Ladies" (2013), one season

"We've seen this show before, in fresher settings, with stronger comic structure — from, in fact, the same creators: [Stephen] Merchant and American 'Office' writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky." —Newsday

59. “Unscripted” (2005), one season

"A faux documentary on actors who are not famous but who are struggling to be isn't inherently interesting to non-actors... 'Unscripted' isn't a complete flop. It's just rare that HBO fails like this." —San Francisco Chronicle

14/

58. "Divorce" (2016-) one season

"The laugh-out-loud viciousness of the opening, which involves both a gun and vomit, is clearly the work of series' creator Sharon Horgan, who also co-writes and stars in Amazon's brilliant 'Catastrophe.' But 'Divorce' isn't always as biting as it is in those moments, leading to a solidly acted but somewhat mundane exploration of a breakup." —The AV Club

15/

57. "Carnivale" (2003-2005), two seasons

"A bloated mess ... 'Carnivale' is a little too full of itself. Believing that it has a fascinating story to tell with all the complex themes you could imagine, the series nevertheless fails the first test of television: Move forward." —San Francisco Chronicle

55. "Doll & Em" (2014-2015, two seasons)

"Despite its refreshing commitment to realism, 'Doll & Em' is ultimately too relaxed and meandering for its own good. There are times when you may wish it had embraced the occasional cliches with more gusto." —Vulture

53. "Ballers" (2015-), two seasons

"[Dwayne] Johnson himself is the best part of 'Ballers,' a charismatic, mostly responsive force that is our window to the precarious world of retirement from football. His perspective on the life of the partying ball player is one of nostalgia. But in the absence of forward momentum, the camera turns to looking for shock value anywhere it can." —Salon

46. "Summer Heights High" (2007), one season

"A funny/sad 'Office'-style mockumentary depicting a year in the life of an Australian public high school, this wildly talented writer-star loves making you squirm (à la Gervais) while submerging himself inside the skin of characters so diverse (à la Ullman) you can hardly believe it's the same guy." —TV Guide

44. "The Young Pope" (2017), one-season miniseries

"'The Young Pope' is TV's equivalent of a dorm-room poster of Bob Marley blowing smoke or the Lenny Bruce mugshot: a depleted symbol of a radical reaction to society that finally most clearly represents the status quo." —Collider

39. "Crashing" (2017), one season

"There is a lot of talk — practical and philosophical — about comedy, and 'Crashing' is very good with the details of low-level nightlife. But what most makes the show entertaining are Pete's episodic adventures with characters who will help form him, challenge him, and wake him from his self-satisfied sleep into a better sort of happiness." —LA Times

34/

38. "Westworld" (2017), one season

"It's the kind of trippy conceptual project that would be unbearable if it weren't so elegantly made. So far, it works, mostly — not because it's perfect but because it gets under your skin." —The New Yorker

32. “Flight of the Conchords” (2007-2009), two seasons

"There are no big sociopolitical statements here, no guerilla-style confrontations, no scenes of squirmy awkwardness, no multilayered pop culture references. It's just a very smart, very funny show." —Entertainment Weekly

41/

31. "Looking" (2014-2015), two seasons

"'Looking' doesn't make the mistake of arguing that gay men are just like straight women, or straight men, or gay women, or even each other. Instead it tells the story of three guys who are friends in a strangely wonderful and difficult time and what that looks like. To them." —LA Times

28. "Togetherness" (2015-2016), two seasons

"It's a slower-paced, smaller-scale show about the sad reality of sticking it out in Hollywood into middle age. It also veers into weirder territory that would feel impossible outside California. But thanks to the chemistry between Peet and Zissis, it's endlessly engrossing." —Entertainment Weekly

26. "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst" (2014), one-season docuseries

"'The Jinx' is wickedly entertaining: funny, morbid, and sad, at once exploitative and high-minded, a moral lasagna of questionable aesthetic choices (including reconstructions of ghastly events) and riveting interviews (of Durst, but also of other eccentrics, like his chain-smoking-hot second wife)." —The New Yorker

22. "In Treatment" (2008-2010), three seasons

"The acting is brilliant, the problems are relatable, and the truths Dr. Weston is chasing are profound. On the other hand, 'In Treatment' is the epitome of American self-indulgence, both for the actors and the characters they're playing." —Chicago Sun-Times

14. "Insecure" (2016-), one season

"It's a smart and often funny look at young people looking for love and professional satisfaction in Los Angeles, which is about as common a genre as TV has to offer these days. But taken in the totality of the TV landscape, Rae's voice is one that wasn't being heard and that voice is what makes 'Insecure' stand out, not necessarily as better than the Emmy winners or critical favorites in the field, but as gratifyingly distinguishable." —The Hollywood Reporter

59/

13. "Enlightened" (2011-2013), two seasons

"A black comedy working many shades of gray, 'Enlightened' is about dark mornings of the soul and the fool's-golden glow of the new convert, and it measures the weight of the world with an eccentric scale." —Slate

60/

12. "Show Me a Hero" (2015), one-season miniseries

"It's like a procedural drama, about the drama of procedure — it isn't ever dry. There are some superbly mounted, loud, crowded big scenes — [David] Simon is a great orchestrator of chaos — but there is an intensity to the quieter, more private moments as well. I wouldn't trade it for a bushel barrel of tortured detectives or all the kings and queens in Westeros." —LA Times

8. "The Pacific" (2010), one-season miniseries

"Certain moments may verge on cliche (and once in a while, the dialogue is a little corny), but overall, 'The Pacific' is crafted and acted with such loving devotion that it's hard to find fault with its sincerity and sentimental forays." —Chicago Tribune